The New Reunion
by Haeron
Summary: A new adventure for our heroes. Clorith, TiNo, Yuffentine, perhaps others. A new Reunion. I suck at summaries. Still please R&R. PostAC. Previously The Limitless Cruelty of Love Plot based title change. CHAPTER 6 ARE FINALLY UP!
1. Faith

_Welcome to my new fanfiction, The New Reunion. Enjoy, R&R_

_Disclaimer: All settings, characters etc. in this piece of writing are property of Square Enix._

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Cloud walked along a glistening stone pathway bathed in light, down a hall with walls upon which portraits were hung. All of them of the same thing.

_Her._

Each one depicting a happy memory of her life with the group, spanning from when Cloud first saw her in Midgar and bought a flower from this innocent-looking girl, to when she… left them. Cloud's shoulders heaved with the burden of guilt brought to him after that time. Tears flew openly down his face and hit the pathway, the sounds tiny, but full of pain and sorrow embroiled deeply within Cloud's heart, eating away at his very consciousness every day and night. He stopped and stared at the picture of he and Aerith sitting in the carriage at the Gold Saucer. That night…

That night, he had been happy. Truly happy. Just knowing she was there with him. And he had kissed her. _"Oh, glorious night!"_ he thought to himself, allowing a slight upturn at the edge of his pale lips, quickly turning into a silent stare at the floor in remembrance. He continued down the path. As he neared the light that was growing closer with every step, he felt as if he were being crushed by some malicious presence all around him. He turned and looked at the final picture, suspended high in the air, easily ten times larger than any of the rest. It was vivid, and spirit energy floated like mist around the edges, an eerie frame in the darkness. Sephiroth. Her. A sword. Loss. Pain. Cloud nearly collapsed under the huge sadness he felt whilst simply gazing with misty, wet eyes at this horrific picture.

He continued into the light, emerging in a room enshrouded entirely in blackness. A single scene was suddenly thrust into Cloud's mind along with some spirit energy lifting him high into the air. He screamed in pain and sorrow as the scene of him laying her in the pool at the Forgotten City played back in his mind. Fire burned his muscular body, evil voices shrieked in his ears "_It was you!" "She is gone because of YOU!" "YOU!" "YOU!" _the voices tore at his very soul, slowly consuming his will. Then it stopped.

Cloud found himself standing in a field that seemed to literally be made entirely of flowers. Flowers stretched as far as the eye could see, and the sun shone like a golden beacon in the sky, illuminating the shimmering wisps of the Lifestream flowing around the beautiful garden. A hand reached out to him, with two white bangles on the wrist. He took it, and the man was standing there, holding a girl's hand. There was that feeling again, the same he had felt at the Gold Saucer. Bliss.

Suddenly, the hand was wrenched away. He found himself in the field. It was burning. The Lifestream had been replaced by wisps of clogging smoke. The screaming had returned. "_IT WAS YO--------U!"_

Cloud shot straight upright and screamed "AERITH!"

His head span to check his surroundings, his body trembling with fear and sorrow. The harsh crystalline features of the Forgotten City came into view around Cloud, his cold blue eyes taking it in gradually. He was on the altar, and he had been every single night after the first nightmare that he had when at Tifa's house. He had lived here to show that he still remembered Aerith and how he felt ever since. Every night, the same screaming, the same dream, the same burning pain all over his body… Just for an hour, to see her again… That was all for which he wished. Every day, an hour's prayer at the altar to the Lifestream to bring her back. He wanted to remove his guilt. To know she could still be there. To be forgiven. Even when he felt he had been forgiven after the fight with Kadaj and his gang, not long after that, the nightmares started coming. Every night.

He stepped outside, and felt the cool breeze hit his cheek. He always slept fully clothed, just in case something happened, for better or for worse. With a de-rusted Buster Sword on his back, he walked over to the pool. Memories tugged at his heartstrings, but he wouldn't show this emotion to anyone but himself in his dreams. He had a cold exterior, but self-loathing and guilt waged war with his mind.

Cloud stared into the crystal-clear pool of water. "_Hey, what's that?" H_e thought to himself, noticing a glowing object in the depths of the water, right at the very bottom. _"I guess I'll swim down to see what it is." _He decided. Just as he was about to run and dive in, a thought stopped him. _"No… her body… it will-"_Just as he was thinking about Aerith's decaying body, he heard something in his head; not his voice, a harmonious and beautiful voice, like a choir of angels. The Planet. _"Do not worry yourself, young one. I removed her body from this world, so that her spirit quickly reached the Lifestream to aid in the battle against Meteor. Now, go and find what it is you seek." _The Planet obviously wanted Cloud to find whatever was down there. He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer to it. "Thank you." He then dived down into the depths. This water was clean of pollution, absolutely pure. This was a holy place. He could see traces of the Lifestream around him. Then, at the bottom, he could not believe what he saw. A Materia. Pure white. Bubbles escaped his gaping mouth as he tried to gasp. He swam towards it. He felt as if he were being caressed by some form of soothing magic as he approached the legendary Materia. Holy. Aerith's 'useless' Materia. The Materia that was aided by the Lifestream, by Aerith's spirit to stop Meteor from crushing Midgar. He gingerly picked up the White Materia using both hands, placing it where his heart was. He felt a wave of healing flow through every bone, healing all damage. All except the most important damage. Only he could combat that.

That night, he succumbed to sleep unusually early. He normally slept late, the nightmares putting him on the borders of insomnia. Fate was cruel. On this night, Cloud would have the worst nightmare yet.

The dream began the same as the previous night. However, this time, when the field began burning, the screaming continued on and on, and he began to see Aerith being stabbed in the Forgotten City over and over. It was endless. All the while, in the world of the living, Cloud was screaming her name, screaming to hold her, Holy shining like a star on his chest. Spirit energy was escaping from him, escaping into a swirling cloud of power above him. His body convulsed. Tears streaked down his tortured face as he screamed for her. The night terror ended. Cloud didn't get straight up. Instead, he lay on the altar, mumbling her name, crying. A hand with two white bangles on the wrist stroked his forehead which was glistening with sweat. "It's alright," Came her sweet voice. "I'm here."


	2. Devotion

_Welcome back to the Fluff Show, ladies and gents. Tonight, we'll be reading a new segment of this story._

_THS : THANKJ00! Gives you a cookie Sad/Sweet? Perfect! Also ,couples are open… sort of, all except Clorith. (Huggles Clorith fansites)_

_Bright Lotus: Thankies! And also, (this is my interpretation) I think Cloud was about to cry when she died, so seeing that over and over will not help. Poor Cloud._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, settings, etc._

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**Chapter 2: Devotion**

Cloud opened his eyes. It was strangely dark, for the time he normally woke up at. Oh. There was something blocking his view. That's strange, nobody usually comes here. Tifa understood what Cloud was doing, the others had no idea where he was. Tifa had promised that she wouldn't say where he'd gone. Who or what was it?

His eyes began to focus. The contours and lines of a young face started to make themselves known to Cloud. There was a warm feeling on his forehead, like there was a hand on it. God, he was soaking. Shaking slightly, too. He remembered the dream he had had last night. It was horrifying. A culmination of all the others. Aerith. He had yearned for her. Just to touch her face one more time… No. No. This couldn't be.

He shot backwards, still almost horizontal, changing to being upright in mid-air. He picked up the Buster Sword from the ground close to him, and, holding the hilt in his right hand, pointed the tip straight towards the girl's throat. "Who are you?" he said in a harsh tone, left arm already glowing with readied materia. "Cloud? It's me… Aerith!" Cloud was frustrated by this girl's idiocy. Aerith wasn't coming back. She couldn't. "No, you're not. She died. Because of me. All because of me. She is not coming back." Cloud was revealing too much. His guilt was manifesting itself in his words. "Cloud, why…" she began. Cloud gritted his teeth and began to shift his weight forwards. "Cloud, stop, please!" she said, hands clasped as if in prayer. "Cloud, it's me. Aerith." She began to step towards him. His resolve was being tried. "Stay back!" he shouted, stepping back just a fraction. "Cloud. I'll prove to you that I am Aerith." She knelt on the floor, the tip of the Buster Sword almost at her throat's fair skin. She closed her eyes in prayer.

Holy was lifted from Cloud's chest. It glowed, a magnificent fire of pure goodness, coming to rest in front of Aerith. It attached itself to her hair the way it had done before she was taken away and it fell into the lake. She made all this happen. "Aerith…" Cloud mouthed. She began to smile vividly. She dashed over to him and hugged him. He couldn't bring himself to respond. The smile playing around his lips was evidently false. "I…" he began. Aerith stopped for a moment as he stepped away from her concerned about his sadness. "I… couldn't possibly face you again. You were taken because of me. I couldn't save you. Forgive me. Please, please forgive me." He was gazing intently at the floor. Aerith walked over. "For what, silly?" she laughed, hugging him again. He was dumbstruck. "What do you mean, for what?" he asked, still not hugging her back. She gazed up at his face. "Don't worry. You didn't do anything. You don't need forgiveness, least of all from me!" She smiled broadly. Cloud stood still for a moment. He then hugged Aerith back awkwardly. She closed her eyes, leaning her head against his muscular chest. He just held her, stroking her light brown hair, the other hand round her waist. He'd regained his confidence. She was back. The two lay together, simply enjoying the knowledge that the other was back. "Thank you, Aerith." He said gently, before they drifted off to sleep. ((_Note: No sex, romance is the word!)) _

He had no nightmares that night. Just peace.

They had slept inside the small building outside the cave. He woke up in the middle of the night, to a strange sound. It sounded like something scratching at the walls. He silently removed his chest from under Aerith's head, walking silently towards the door. Placing a gloved hand on the handle, he pulled at the door and was thrown backwards, straight into a wall. He leapt outside into the fresh night air, seemingly unharmed by this body-to-wall collision. Something immediately whizzed in front of his face, and there was an inhuman cry as the monster stopped to see its new prey. It was an ugly thing. The head constantly changed form on the humanoid body. The monster towered over Cloud, at least twice his height. The whole thing appeared gooey, constantly flowing yet solid. Where there was once a longer finger this quickly morphed into a shorter one, and back again, the same sort of fluctuations going on all over the monster's 'liquid flesh' body. It swung a mace-like hand at him, which he ducked, whilst moving quickly forwards to give his blade some momentum. As he swung upwards, however, the beast nimbly dodged the huge sword and slammed Cloud in the back, sending him flying towards a tree trunk.

All this was causing quite a stir. Aerith had woken up at the sound of the screech, realising Cloud was gone. For a moment, panic shot through her, but then she heard the familiar sound of the Buster Sword slicing through the air. She picked up her staff and dashed downstairs. She peeked out of the door to see Cloud swinging upwards, but then being hit badly. "CLOUD!"

Cloud regained control in time to slice the tree trunk in half and then, using the width of his sword, to send this flying towards the monster. Direct hit, but this abomination wouldn't go down from simply being knocked to the ground by a mere tree. It grabbed the trunk from on top of it and threw it straight back towards Cloud. He jumped from the trunk of a tree that he had managed to land horizontally on, and ran along the flying projectile's trunk, leaping high into the air with the sword held in both hands behind his back. He swung it down with amazing speed as he hurtled towards the monster. It was hit again, but it dodged out of the way and lost only a couple of fingers. It was heading full speed towards Aerith. Cloud's eyes widened and he readied his Mako-generated power to slam his sword on the floor to release a beam heading straight for the monster.

Aerith took herself into a fighting pose with her staff, readying herself for the worst. The monster charged towards her, tiny eyes red with loathing. She was breathing hard, adrenaline working its hardest to rouse her so quickly. It was close now. She ducked to the side, spinning her staff to deliver a resounding blow directly on the now-broken nose of the somewhat disoriented ((_Well, it WAS hit with a tree – Haeron)) _monster, sending it reeling back and straight into Cloud's beam. It exploded, though it left no remnants, just a few wisps of spirit energy that soon dissipated and were absorbed by the Lifestream.

"That was strange," observed Cloud after the fight, he and Aerith sitting on a bed together, "The monsters don't usually attack here." Aerith was thinking. "Something's happening. The Planet is trying to tell me something. It's all jumbled up. Something really is wrong." Cloud looked down at the girl with her head on his shoulder, her brown locks framing her face perfectly, "I don't think we're safe here anymore." He said concernedly. Aerith nodded in agreement. "What shall we do?" she asked the man whose shoulder she was resting her head on, sad-looking features that were so easily brightened by one of his true, heart-warming smiles. "I think… I think we should go to Midgar." Aerith cheered with joy. "We'll see everyone again!" she said, smiling broadly. Cloud was smiling too. There it was, that gorgeous smile. She looked into his eyes, and walked over to him, put an arm round him and rested her head on his shoulder as they set off.

_Bliss._

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_End of chapter the second, folkies! I liked writing this one. It seemed to flow._

_Also, few changes. Aeris is now Aerith since my fingers just wanted to type that "th"_

_And the title has changed from "The Limitless Cruelty of Love" to "The New Reunion" for plot reasons. Enjoy Chapter 2, please R&R!_

_Haeron_


	3. Remembrance

_Here we go again, everyone. Enjoy the show. _

_Icaras666: Thou'rt technically incorrect. Aerith is now the official name. In Electronic Gaming Magazine Monthly's February 2004 issue, someone asked them to correct the "typo" of calling Aeris Aerith. EGM contacted Square for confirmation that ever since Kingdom Hearts, "Aerith" has been the official name. It's pronounced the same anyway._

_VV Lover: Hehe, not sure about other couples than Clorith. (Yuffentine's probable, though! ) And also, THANKJ00! I officially love that word Aerith-ism now D_

_KatoriTsubasa: Again, Yuffentine is probable, not sure about rest. Still, THANKJ00!_

_Disclaimer: All characters and settings etc. in this piece of writing are property of Square Enix._

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**Chapter 3: Remembrance**

They walked. Hand-in-hand through the forest north of Bone Village. Away from their memories. Away from Cloud's nightmares. Away together. The glistening trees shook lightly in the breeze. They saw the outline of Bone Village in the distance. "Nearly there." Cloud said. Aerith nodded. They continued over the almost frozen ground. It was always cold around Bone Village. Cloud hadn't noticed, but Aerith was shivering. He put his arm around her, and with a thought, a spot on his arm began to glow red as he channelled some heat into her. However, after this, he didn't remove his arm. She smiled at him. She smiled a lot. Cloud couldn't help but be enthused by her endless energy. They reached Bone Village.

It was the same. A small mining village, over a treasure trove of all sorts of things underground. The men would unearth something almost every day. However, he and Aerith now had a problem. How would they get out of here? There was no transportation across the water, and they didn't have access to an airship… or did they? "Cloud, do you have a phone on you?" Aerith asked him. He nodded, suddenly getting what Aerith was saying. He dialled in a number quickly. "Cid? It's Cloud. I'm at Bone Village. ASAP, please."

Cid arrived. He noticed Cloud quickly, Cloud standing out with his very large sword and all. _"Hey, who's that g-" _Cid stopped mid-thought. It kept repeating itself and stopped at the same place in his head. He landed as soon as possible.

"Hello again, Cid." Aerith said. "Aerith!" He responded loudly, jumping out of the Sierra. "How did you-?" He began to ask, before being interrupted by Aerith. "Cloud!" she replied joyfully, looking up at him. "Cloud. You're a real hero, you know that?" Cid said to him as they moved towards the massive airship that had landed on the water. "How are you, Cid?" Aerith inquired with interest. "Life's good. Shera and I have two kids now. We even named one after you." Aerith laughed. She was happy to know that her old friends hadn't forgotten her. She had, after all, been watching over them during the fights with Sephiroth and Kadaj. "Where we goin', Cloud?" Cid shouted from the cockpit. "Midgar." Came the response. "Yee-haw!" yodelled Cid as the Sierra shot into the air and flew straight to Midgar.

On the way, Cloud and Aerith lay next to each other in an embrace. _((Still no sex! Haeron)) _

Upon arrival, Cid saw the two youths lying with each other, asleep. He smiled and walked away, setting up the Sierra's forcefield so that only he and those he programmed into it could pass through. His own invention which he had been very proud of.

The couple awoke to silence. The outskirts of Midgar. Cloud woke the still somewhat sleepy Aerith. "Let's go to the ch-" Before Aerith put a finger over his lips. "Yes." Came the response. The two left the Sierra and headed for the church. They stopped outside the doors, just as a sign of reverence. "Let's go, Cloud." Aerith said gently. Cloud pushed open the doors. They stepped inside. The flowers were in full bloom. They always were. The pews were dusty, but still in good condition. They walked to the flowers, still hand-in-hand. They didn't even seem to notice they were holding each other's hand. They just did it for security, to know there was the other there.

Aerith went over and sat in the flowerbed, removing herself from Cloud's hand. She lay down and took a deep breath, and exhaled contentedly. "It's good, being back here… with you." Cloud looked at her smiling face, moving over to kneel next to her. "I…feel… the same way." He replied almost silently. The couple held each other's gaze for an eternity. Each was lost in the other's eyes. They began to drift closer, Aerith being lifted by their embrace, Cloud bringing her closer with his arms. Their faces were almost touching now. They could feel each other's breath on their faces. Aerith closed her eyes. Their lips touched. Seconds, minutes, hours… time was non-existent in their world. All there was was the other. Cloud's eyes were closed too, now. They were lost. Lost in each other's lips.

The kiss ended, and the two blurry-eyed youths looked at each other tenderly. "I…" Aerith began, "I love you." She mouthed, squeezing Cloud as hard as she could. "I... love you, Aerith." He mouthed back at his lover, stroking her beautiful light brown curls. Her lips were dry, as were his. They stared at each other with gratitude in their eyes. Gratitude for having someone to rely on. To draw strength from. To love. They didn't sleep, just lay in each other's arms for at least an hour. The flowers seemed to light up around them with a white glow. Holy was shining on Aerith's hair. It was linked to her, dull at times of sadness, brilliant when she was happy. It now sat as an ornament on the top of one of her curls falling across her red denim jacket.

Aerith's breathing became slow and steady. She was sleeping soundly, a smile on her face. He couldn't possibly move. The moment was too perfect. Too perfect to be disturbed by anything. "Thank you, Aerith." Came his mumbled words.

The moment stayed, until it was indeed disturbed by a small girl no older than eight years old stepping through the church's doors. "CLOUD!" came Marlene's overjoyed cry.

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_And that's my favourite chapter so far. Enjoy, R&R. Thanks for reading, folks._


	4. The Reunion

_Again, I welcome you to the new chapter. Enjoy!_

_Bright Lotus: THANKJ00! Thanks a ton for pointing out the typo. Upon re-reading after that, I found a couple of other mistakes. Oh dear, I need to proof-read better. Embarrassed_

_Katori Tsubasa: THANKJ00! And you may be right on the money. You know Yuffie well. _

_Disclaimer: All characters and settings etc. are property of Square Enix._

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**Chapter 4: The Reunion**

"_Don't worry. I won't tell Tifa!" _Marlene had joked. She kept her word.

Tifa took a deep breath, closing her eyes, her hands and feet moving to a fighting pose. She opened her eyes, and leapt at the target. The training dummy came under a flurry of feet and fists, the tightly packed straw flying in all directions. She had transformed the bar's basement into a training room for former members of AVALANCHE. Her raven-black hair whipped around in all directions as the fierce martial artist pummelled the dummy. As she jumped into the air for one last kick, her boot connected and sent the head flying into the wall. She landed gracefully, and then dropped her shoulders in mock disapproval. "Aww, I'm going to have to buy another one now!" she said, sniggering quietly. She heard the bell on the door upstairs ringing. Leaping to the ladder from halfway across the room and scrambling up to see Marlene's overjoyed face. "Cloud is back!" Marlene screamed. Tifa took the girl's hand and dashed in the direction of the church about twice as fast as she had moved when practicing. She knew he'd go to the church. She didn't know why, just that he'd be there.

Tifa burst into the Church to see Aerith and Cloud sitting next to each other on the front pew, gazing at the shimmering flowerbed, her head on his shoulder. "Ae-" Tifa stuttered, shocked. Aerith turned round and looked at her, smiling. "Hello again, Tifa." Tifa walked forward to face her. "But you- you-" Before she noticed Aerith glancing at Cloud, who seemed to be contemplating something. Tifa smiled and looked away. "Good old Cloud." She said, nervously. She was standing here, talking to someone who had been killed 4 years ago. "Is this… is this real?" Tifa gasped. Aerith put a hand to Tifa's shoulder. "Yes." That was all the confirmation Tifa needed. A tear came from her eye, and she threw her arms around Aerith's neck. "It's good to see you again." Tifa said to her old friend. Aerith simply smiled, arms around Tifa. They let each other go, and Tifa went round to Cloud, who had by now left his trance and had been watching the two friends meet again. He was smiling too.

"Welcome back, stranger." Tifa said to Cloud, hugging him hard. She then proceeded to move away a couple of steps, breathing hard. She then darted forward and slapped him round the cheek. Aerith moved to help him, but Cloud simply put out a hand to stop her. She then moved to help the sobbing Marlene, who had previously been playing with the flowers. "You just upped and left, Cloud!" Tifa shouted, eyes watering. "A year! I've waited for a whole… damn… year." She stopped, and collapsed onto Cloud, hitting his chest lightly. "A whole goddamn…" Cloud stopped her. "I'm- I'm sorry. I… had to go." He tried to explain. Tifa rose, nodding. "I know, Cloud. Welcome back." Her voice quivered, shoulders rising and falling quickly. Cloud rose and took her phone from her pocket. "Hey, what are you doing?" She asked incredulously. Cloud smiled ever so slightly. Aerith and Marlene watched him quizzically. He pressed a couple of buttons and a beep came from the phone. He turned it round to show the girls. They huddled round to see what it said.

"_Signal sent to group: AVALANCHE."_

"You devil, Cloud." Tifa laughed, only a faint hint that she had been crying was left on her face. "Sorry, Aerith." Cloud smiled at her as she ran to kiss him on the cheek, hugging him.

They all arrived at the same time, wondering why Tifa had sent out a distress beacon from the least distressing place in all of Midgar. Nevertheless, they ran and threw open the doors, only to stop inside the archway. Aerith turned to face them, looking completely innocent. "Oh, hello, would you like to buy some flowers? She asked, still looking completely nonchalant. "Is that-" Barret whispered, before being loudly interrupted by a scream of "Aerith!" from Yuffie, who was now charging directly for Aerith. She leapt at the girl who was no longer holding the flowers, but laughing with joy. The force of Yuffie's jump knocked Aerith off her feet, and Yuffie hugged her, bouncy as ever. Yuffie flipped up, jumping for joy, then stopped, looking at the faces of the rest of AVALANCHE. "Well, come on, you guys!" They quickly obliged, all dashing for Aerith, who was now standing. All except Cid and Vincent. Cid knew she was back, and Vincent did also. They watched on, both smiling, Cid broadly and Vincent perhaps just a tiny curl at the edge of his mouth. They went and found Cloud, Tifa and Marlene behind the left-hand door and Vincent said a quick "Well done." To Cloud before walking briskly over towards Aerith, who was being mobbed by the former members of AVALANCHE.

Nanaki looked older now, more flecks of grey in his still rather glorious mane. His tail burned brightly. His tribe was coming back to its old self, hundreds of his kind all around Cosmo Canyon. There was a memorial to Bugenhagen in the middle of the town now. His star-gazing equipment was kept in pristine condition. Every night, Nanaki would go down the cave to see his petrified father. It was a sign of respect which his father appreciated, or so Aerith told him. The tattoo remained on his side.

Barret was still the same loud, brash, gun-arm-toting environmentalist and adoptive father of Marlene he had always been. He ran a large oil company based in Shinra's old headquarters. "ECOil Corp." He had called it, partly because he felt it had a ring to it, but mainly to spite Shinra. Somehow, despite his busy schedule, he always found time to travel to the desert outside Corel Prison to pay his respects to Dyne. Someone once told him he could get a new hand. He stared at the gun where his arm was for some time. He had declined the offer. It was a mark of his past. He couldn't erase that.

Yuffie retained her energy two years on. She was the head of the Kisaragi Dojo in Wutai. She even had her own very extensive material collection. It was not so much a tourist town as Shinra made it, now being generally devoted to its monks and warriors. She couldn't stop looking at Vincent, but she didn't know why. She was beginning to ponder her sanity, looking at Vincent like that. She was still a thief, but more a Robin Hood type. Perhaps it was being around AVALANCHE.

Vincent was in a dilemma. Could he finally let Lucrecia's memory go? Let it go, to answer Yuffie's advances? He would like to, but Lucrecia and Hojo kept on coming back to haunt him. He would battle them in his mind. He had been wandering around Gaea for half a year now, wraithlike, effusive. He could have been a mercenary, but he decided that didn't feel right. He was a vigilante of sorts. He and his tri-barrelled pistol were faithful to each other. He had almost learned to control the transformations in times of stress. He found out about Aerith coming back by just peeking around the Forgotten City one night. But for the moment, he had Yuffie on his mind.

Reeve had left the group after the Kadaj incident, deciding he wanted to settle down and live a 'real' life, as he called it.

But for now, Aerith was back, the friends were reunited once again. They slept deeply that night, after spending the evening in the church, talking to each other. Cloud and Aerith went to the roof without anyone noticing. They kissed again.

They slept soundly, but were rudely awakened.

Little did our heroes know of the journey that awaited them.

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_Katori Tsubasa gets a cookie._

_Enjoy, please R&R._


	5. The Beginning

_I welcome you again to this lovely fanfic of loveliness._

_THS: W00000ts! Thanks for the great reviews! However, I must hit myself. I don't hit believe hit that I forgot hit primary school hit GRAMMAR! hit Thanks a million times over for pointing that out. I may as well owe you my life._

_Katori Tsubasa: Thankies!_

_Disclaimer: All settings, characters in this fanfiction are owned by Square Enix._

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**Chapter 5: The Beginning**

Cloud woke up, his eyes quickly glancing to each side of the room, at Aerith's sleeping face next to him and the stairs. There was an inhuman groaning coming from the church hall where the group had reunited the previous day. He released himself from Aerith's arms and let her go. She rolled over, still smiling, even in dreams. Cloud turned his mind back to the matter at hand. Silently descending the stairs, Buster Sword ready on his back, still clothed, Cloud saw the source of the noise. Oh no. Not another one of those things.

The monster's semi-fluid body was familiar to Cloud. Back at the Forgotten City, he and Aerith had killed one just like this. This one, however, looked stronger. It was red, and its arms were much thicker, shape slightly more clearly defined. Cloud slowly and silently stepped towards the monster, which was facing away from him, towards the church doors. He had almost reached striking distance. About to draw his sword, Cloud hesitated for just a moment, readying himself mentally. That was all it took for the monster to spin incredibly quickly with a fist flailing out to catch Cloud and send him hurtling into the wall.

He landed, making a crater in the stone walls of the newly-roofed church. The monster leapt towards the slumping Cloud, who was still shaking off the head-spinning impact. It grew two new arms below its human-like original two, and began to pummel Cloud. The pain was unbelievable. He began to hear cracks in his chest as ribs began to break under the creature's huge hands. Dust was falling in streams from the walls, getting into Cloud's hair and mouth. The humongous creature pulled back all of its fists, and its arms began to glow a bright blue. As the creature landed the final blow with all of its fists, Cloud briefly spread-eagled on the wall, before slumping onto the floor, blood dripping from the both sides of his mouth. He drifted in and out of consciousness every few seconds, lucky to escape a living victim of a torture that would have killed most humans. Fortunately for him, he had friends…

"Cloud!" Yelled the group almost simultaneously as they rushed down the stairs upon hearing the cacophonous noise coming from downstairs, weapons at the ready. The creature turned towards them, eyes glowing red with battle lust. These things were made to fight. The group of friends all leapt at the monstrous thing standing over Cloud's seemingly lifeless body. Barret and Vincent stood back and fired at the creature's head, whilst the rest attacked the creature's body. To begin with, it did reel with the impacts of the various weapons, but it began to stand straight against constant blows. Cuts seeming to disappear on the body, it lifted its four arms up and span in a circle, arms extended, knocking all the group members to the floor. It let out another cry. Aerith stood up gracefully, and looked at the monster, which, enraged at her still standing, rushed towards her swinging its arms in a frenzy. Holy was glowing, her eyes shining with white light.

"Stop." She said, in a voice that wasn't her own. She lifted up her arms and stopped the creature's blow. She tensed for just a moment, and then relaxed as the creature dissolved in mid-air. Holy stopped glowing, and Aerith collapsed to her knees, panting. The tired group of friends stood, healed. It was Holy's influence. It was the ultimate White Magic, after all. Even though it had damaged the planet stopping Meteor, it could still heal. Cloud didn't stand though. He was breathing slowly, a small pool of blood gathering where it was falling from the sides of his mouth.

"Is he okay?" asked Tifa worriedly. Aerith, who was kneeling next to Cloud looking tearful, shook her head. She tried calling up healing magic to help him, but it just acted as a painkiller. It couldn't heal all the wounds.

"We need to lie him down." Nanaki said, gesturing up the stairs with his head. Aerith nodded. Vincent moved over to help. He and Aerith put their hands on Cloud's chest, prompting a blood-curdling scream of pain from him. They took their hands away like a shot. A tear ran down Aerith's cheek. She wanted to hug him, to hold him, to make him feel better. Touching him was the worst thing she could possibly do.

"I'm sorry, Cloud…" she whispered. Suddenly, there was a gargantuan explosion from somewhere outside the church. The vibrations sent some of the bricks from the ceiling down onto the pews. Barret whipped out his phone, and dialled in a number quickly.

"Rude, what the &$'s goin' on down there?" He asked in a mock calm tone. A deep voice came from the other end of the phone. Barret's eyes widened a little. "Okay. Thanks." He put the phone back in his pocket. "We have a problem. Monsters have overrun Sector 6. They're attacking Wall Market. From the sound of it, they're like the thing we fought." The group gasped simultaneously.

"What are we gonna do?" Asked Yuffie expectantly.

"Whaddya think?" Cid started loudly. "We're gonna fight 'em!" He cheered.

"But what about Cloud?" Tifa asked, looking with concern at Cloud. Aerith raised her hand.

"I'll stay with him." Aerith said quietly, raising her hand. They nodded in acceptance.

"Awright everyone," Barret shouted. "Gear up!" they picked up their equipment and dashed out of the door. Aerith moved the hair out of Cloud's eyes, looking at his injured form.

"Looks like it's just you and me now, Cloud." She said gently, stroking his forehead. She put one hand on the side of his face and looked into his eyes. He was slipping in and out of consciousness. He was in far too much pain to talk. Lifting an arm, teeth gritted and groaning with the pain, he put it round Aerith's waist. She couldn't bear to see him like this. She began to sob gently. Cloud was angry inside. Angry at himself for making her cry like that. It was his fault. He became unconscious as the crying Aerith knelt next to him and stroked his forehead gently.

Meanwhile, the group approached Wall Market.

"Barret, why do you have Rude's phone number?" Tifa inquired, slightly playfully. Barret laughed.

"He's my secretary." The rest of the former AVALANCHE looked at him in surprise. This was short-lived, however, because as they turned the corner into Wall Market, they all stopped, gaping at the scene before them.

"Oh my God." Said Yuffie, in a small, scared voice. Vincent moved towards her, reaching out an arm to… hold her? He withdrew quickly. She looked at him quizzically, just for a moment. He blushed, pale cheeks suddenly burning red. The rest of the group hadn't seen. They were more interested in the object flying very quickly toward them.

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_Hey hey, enjoy, please R&R. _

_A note to readers: I wont' be able to update so frequently anymore ,as I'm starting school again. I'll probably do a new chapter every Saturday, so watch this space!_


	6. Déja Vu

_Hello again, everyone._

_Please, PLEASE don't hate me for the overly huge update time. Year 10 has a hectic year been. Welcome to the climbing of the cliffhanger._

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**Chapter 6: Déja vu**

There was a shock of red hair with a white shirt and blue suit as Reno's lithe body swung through the air in a flying kick, breaking the flimsy wooden sign that had been thrown at the group in two. He glanced back at the group, and gave them a glistening grin.

"Hey, how y'all doin'?" he shoute quickly before turning to face the beast that had thrown the sign at them. He ran towards it, charging his shock baton as he ran. The monster held its fist up in the air, opening it and slapping Reno hard to the side, into a wall, where he landed with a resounding crash. Tifa sighed, and hit her head in mocking fashion.

"Damn it, Reno…" she mouthed, dashing at the creature, which drew its hand back just as it had done with Reno. This one was slow and cumbersome, a mere grunt. It brought its fist towards her, but she was prepared. Leaping nimbly up, she dashed along its thick arm until she was near its head. She stopped for a very short moment, before she backflipped, bringing her toes into sharp contact with the creature's jaw. There was a horrific snapping as its jaw broke and it flew metres up into the air. She leapt after it, grabbing its head and arm and hurling it rapidly towards the ground. As it hit the ground, she was falling head-first, fist drawn back as energy gathered around it. As she hit it, a massive shockwave came as the martial artist hit the creature squarely in the middle of its ribcage. More cracking resounded as its ribs broke and the creature's moans fell silent. Tifa flipped upright, landing as if nothing had really happened. She smiled simply at the group, moving over to where Reno lay, gaping at what he had just seen, but still slightly disorientated. "Hey, you okay?" Tifa asked concernedly, putting her hand on Reno's forehead, kneeling down.

"Heal." Aerith mouthed hopelessly, removing her hand from Cloud's forehead. He was still out cold. He cried out to any touch on his chest or legs. The monster had really done him over. His wounds were too serious for her healing to cure. She sat down next to the bed in the church, clutching her knees to her chin. "I guess there's not really much I can do except talk to you." She looked down at her shoes. "I was always there, you know," she sighed, smiling. "Watching you. Watching your fear, your hope, your hate, your adventures, your love. I never forgot you. I… never will." She was almost crying now, her breathing ragged. "Just wake up. Please. Please." She sobbed.

Cloud wanted to. He could hear her. Every word. He was lost in his mind, wandering, trapped in the mind of a body that wasn't waking up. He willed and willed his body to wake up, but the monster had really beaten him badly. He wanted to stop her crying, to wake up and see her there. He couldn't. He was angry at himself for letting this happen, letting his love cry like this.

"Wake up, damn you, wake up!" he shouted into the blank nothingness of his mind.

Aerith knelt next to the bed again, her hands clasped in prayer, eyes closed.

"Please, wake up. Wake up, Cloud." She stopped talking, praying to the planet for its hero's healing. She stopped and looked up. A single ball of Lifestream descended slowly from the rafters, towards Cloud. Aerith smiled gleefully. As it hit Cloud's chest, it spread out across his whole body, healing him. He breathed a contented sigh in his unconsciousness as the cuts healed. Then the bones started being fixed. There was an awful crunching as the bones were fixed back into place. Cloud let out a ghastly yell of pain, convulsing as the healing fluid fixed his broken bones. Aerith could do nothing but take his hand and watch in horror, tears running from her eyes. Cloud's eyes were open now as his ribs and legs cracked back into place and the pain finally stopped. He sat bolt upright, hugging Aerith who had flung her arms around him passionately, her head against his chest. He was breathing heavily and quickly, eyes still wide in shock. Aerith sobbed against his chest. As his breathing slowed and his eyes focused, he pulled her closer and put his head on top of hers. She quieted, and closed her eyes, as did he. The two shared an intimate moment before Cloud's phone rang. Waiting for a few seconds, Cloud finally reached down and answered it.

"Yea- yeah, it's me… alright," he said, putting down the phone, "Let's go, Aerith." He breathed quietly to Aerith, getting out of the bed. The two started running.

_Meanwhile, at the same time…_

Yuffie swung her shuriken, decapitating another of the monsters. Their dead bodies littered her path. Wall Market had become much bigger, and was now a thriving economic center. Well, it _was _a thriving economic center until approximately ten minutes ago. Yuffie took a moment to survey her surroundings. There was carnage. Half of the people who had lied here were dead, the rest had managed to escape. Blood dyed the streets red. There were bodies limp against walls, or just in the middle of the street. Most of the buildings had been destroyed. There was still screaming coming from the places that the group hadn't reached yet. Fires painted the sky a muddy black, clogging smoke forming an ominous cloud over the ruined Wall Market. Yuffie walked on, shaking with the horrific scene that these mysterious creatures had created around her. She held her shuriken at her side, her grip firm in case she was taken by surprise. She stopped and sighed.

"Geez, why don't you guys just do something already!" she shouted to the three monsters that had been lurking behind her for a while. She span round and leapt towards them. Yuffie vanished into a blur of white, green and steel. The monsters were recoiling and then being knocked back by the youthful ninja's incredible speed. Cuts came up on their tough bodies, and they each collapsed in turn as Yuffie managed to hit their internal organs. She landed, tired out from the exertion of what she had just done. Turning, she saw exactly what she didn't want to see: a general. The massive creature was easily twice her size, with four arms. It walked up to her, each step generating shockwaves. Yuffie took a tired leap at the monster, but there was really nothing behind it. It simply punched her into the ground with its huge fist. Thinking she was dead, it walked back down the path she had come from.

Cid's spear appeared out of the monster's side and it swung like a club towards a group of others.

"Yee-haw!" came Cid's adrenaline fuelled yells as he turned to face the next group of creatures. "Come on, you &$£!" he shouted at them, taunting them with his hand. The slow beasts lumbered towards him, groaning. He leapt into the air, and, holding his spear like a javelin, threw it down at them. It landed on the ground just next to them, making a small explosion, but one with enough force to send them flying backwards to the ground. As he fell, Cid grabbed the spear and stabbed them both, killing them. He landed, and looked around at his work. At least ten, maybe fifteen. He laughed to himself. "Damn, I'm good- hey, what the hell?" he shouted, noticing a general coming down towards him. "Ah, crap." He said sarcastically, running at it. Drawing his spear back to stab it, he was shocked to find that as he drew closer, this one seemed to grow in size. Slowing down, Cid gaped. That was the wrong thing to do. The creature, lightning fast, drew its arm back and slammed Cid into a post. It continued on past Cid's unconscious form. It would be easy to think that these heroes were dead. Not many people could survive a punch like that.

Barret fired at the endless hordes of monsters that were seemingly coming from nowhere. They went down against his arm's powerful bullets, but he didn't have that much ammo left. Every so often, he charged up a larger shot which took out a couple. He'd taken out about twenty. Suddenly they stopped coming. Barret looked from left to right quickly. He didn't know why they'd stopped, but he was alert. He heard something coming. Something _big._ He saw the general. Where had that come from? It was huge. Barret had his mouth open in shock. He began firing at it. It flinched and stopped for a moment. However, after a couple of seconds of recoiling, the monster simply gave Barret a gruesome smile, gritted its teeth and continued on. He was still firing. Then he heard a click, and he noticed that no more bullets were coming out.

"Aw, goddamnit!" he shouted, beginning to run. The monster, however, was faster. It leapt in front of Barret, who just managed to stagger to a halt in time. The monster slammed him into a wall, and moved on towards the same place as the other generals. They were going towards Barret's HQ. As the monster left his view, the immobile Barret took out his phone and dialled Cloud's number. "Aeri- Cloud! We need you. I think they got us. Tifa's takin' Reno back to the church. Just hurry, a'ight?" he put the phone down and smiled, drifting into unconsciousness.

Tifa carried the unconscious Reno back to the church. His hair was caked with blood around his forehead, and his right cheek was bruised. Tifa was carrying him over her shoulder, so she didn't notice when he woke up.

"Damn it, I'll get that big bastard!" he shoute, and Tifa froze, dropping him on his head, she yelled in shock for a moment. "Ow! What the-" Reno shouted, scrambling to get to his feet. Looking round quickly, "Hey, where am I? Where's the monster? How did I get-Tifa!" exclaiming as he noticed the girl behind him. Stepping back, he readied his shock baton, only to fall to his knees as he noticed the pain he was in. He'd probably broken a rib, but nothing else. "Ow! Son of a…" he started, before Tifa moved over concernedly.

"Hey, take it easy, you're hurt." She said, kneeling to help him up.

"What happened…" he started, letting Tifa help him up. "I remember… the monster smashed me against the wall, then you…" he stopped, wincing in pain.

"Stop talking, just walk." Tifa said sternly. Reno nodded, looking at her. They passed Cloud and Aerith on their way, who were running towards the battlezone.

Vincent Valentine had managed to stay away from all the fighting by leaping across the rooftops of Wall Market. He had decided to find out just what was causing this. As he ran towards the back areas of Wall Market, where Don Corneo's mansion used to be, he found the large circular area that was a social area. It was just an area with high glass walls, which were covered in graffiti. Of course, people used all of Wall Market for socialising, but this place had a title. It was notorious for housing fights. It was on fire. At the center stood Rufus Shinra. He had been healed after the events with Kadaj, and he could walk. His blond hair was still smart but somehow casual, as always, and he wore his trademark white suit. It was, however, coated in the blood of the creatures for he was fighting many off with his shotgun. When there was a break, he would fire into the wall, where there was a huge purple crystal, giving off an eerie glow. The creatures would form out of it like sludge and solidify. Vincent started firing at the crystal. Rufus had evidently been doing this for some time. It was cracked and lackluster. It took about twenty shots before it finally shattered. The explosion took all the monsters in the glass-walled area. The generals that were running rampant on the streets were still there, though. Vincent leapt into the social area. The fire had spread to form a ring around the two now.

"Rufus!" Vincent shouted. Rufus turned to look at the red-caped man. "Are you the one that caused this?"

"Me? No. I don't know what it is, but people pay me to get rid of them." Rufus had started taking a slightly more active part in things since he was healed. "Why are you here, ex-Turk?" he inquired.

"I'm helping. However, I have something to give to you." Vincent reloaded his gun.

"And what might that be?" asked Rufus, doing the same.

"All the pain your company has caused me." Vincent said, pointing the gun towards Rufus.

"Ah yes, one of Hojo's subjects I, see." Rufus said, motioning towards Vincent's mutated arm, which was contaned inside its golden claw.

"Yes." Came Vincent's abrupt reply. "And I never got the chance to repay him, so I'll just have to do it to you!" he shouted, firing. Rufus jumped to the side, shooting at Vincent, who jumped in the opposite direction.

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_Ah-ha, longest chapter yet. _

_Anyway, please don't kill me, enjoy, R&R._

_Ciao._

_Haeron._


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